Jeff Lebby says Mississippi State football didn’t put on a good enough show. Here's how he’s wrong

STARKVILLE — Jeff Lebby isn’t just trying to form Mississippi State football into an offensive powerhouse. The first-year coach is also attempting to change the culture, and that started right away when he created “ Showtime at State .”

It quickly turned into a MSU rally motto. It’s used as a hashtag on team social media posts, printed on T-shirts and even displayed on the Davis Wade Stadium video boards.

Mississippi State sure seemed to demonstrate what “Showtime at State” can be in Saturday's breezy 56-7 season-opening win over Eastern Kentucky .

But Lebby, when asked by a reporter after the game if he believes MSU (1-0) accomplished putting on a show, quickly said it was “not good enough.”

“At the end of the day, again, our guys did a bunch of good,” he said. “I said that many times. We’ve got to play better, we’ve got to play cleaner. The expectation is to not kick field goals down there when we have to. We got to go bang them through.”

Was Mississippi State’s performance perfect? Certainly not. But it was still a precursor of an exciting show to come.

Why Mississippi State did put on a show

Many fans were itching to see what Lebby’s high-flying offense he brought from Oklahoma would look like. The third play of the game was a 65-yard touchdown pass from Blake Shapen to Jordan Mosley. That set the tone for a no-sweat win that saw MSU ahead 35-0 in the second quarter.

Shapen, a Baylor transfer who was immediately named the starter, completed 15 of his first 17 pass attempts. All three of his touchdown passes went for at least 23 yards and he didn’t commit a turnover. He also ran for 44 yards with a rushing touchdown.

Shapen ran one play in the fourth quarter — a 3rd-and-goal pass that went incomplete — then sat the rest of the game.

“I feel like it was a great day for us,” Shapen said. “I feel like there’s obviously some things that we can clean up and get better at, but I feel like overall it was a good start to the season.”

MORE: Mississippi State football vs EKU: Final score, highlights from Week 1 game

Defensively, Mississippi State didn’t let Eastern Kentucky (0-1) cross midfield until a few minutes remained in the second quarter. The secondary was noticeably physical and did a good job of limiting big plays under new coordinator Coleman Hutzler.

On special teams, Kevin Coleman averaged 23 yards in his five punt returns. A field goal was blocked late in the third quarter, but the rest of the special teams operations seemed clean.

“Just with injuries, some people not being able to play and the coaching staff change, I think that all just lit a fire under a lot of us and helped us today, this whole week and all of camp,” safety Isaac Smith said. “It fired us up to show people that we can get back on and play how Mississippi State football is supposed to play.”

Mississippi State blocked a punt for a touchdown and converted a 51-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter. Both touchdowns were scored by freshmen playing in their first games.

MSU never scored more than 50 points in a game last season.

There are things to correct, but Lebby is indeed 1-for-1 in showtimes at Mississippi State.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Jeff Lebby says Mississippi State football didn’t put on a good enough show. Here's how he’s wrong